Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
TUCKER
When Jackson and I entered the barn after returning from our trip to the river, Lane and Elliot were perched against a wall, doing their best to act casual and not like they’d been sitting around waiting.
Lane had been twiddling with a piece of straw, which he chucked away the moment he laid eyes on us.
Elliot was no better, quickly scrambling to a more neutral position from holding his head up against the wall.
“Well, hey you two.” Lane grinned, blinking in faux surprise. “Where have y’all been all day?”
“Out,” I grunted, narrowing my eyes at the two of them.
“Just getting back?” Elliot asked, shoving his hands into his pockets with a shit-eating grin I didn’t like one bit. Something was tickling at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t be sure what it was just yet.
“Yep,” I responded with just as little enthusiasm as before.
The two idiots shared a look between them before Elliot pushed off the wall to glance behind us. “Only y’all? No one else?”
“Yep.”
Lane let out a low whistle at my response, and I crossed my arms over my chest, fed up with whatever game we were playing here.
“What the fuck is with this little welcome party?” I asked, glaring both Tweedledee and Tweedledum down, but neither of them seemed affected by it. Instead, they let out little giggles like some schoolgirls discussing their crushes before Lane flapped a hand.
“Just wanted to see it for ourselves,” he chirped merrily, shoving his hands in his pockets as he slowly started inching toward the barn exit.
“Now that we have, we’ll get out of your hair,” Elliot added, the two of them turning on their heels and doing a shitty job of hiding their snickers as they left.
“What was that all about?” Jackson asked, stepping up beside me. He’d already gotten Sky into a cross-tie paddock and untacked her during that little interaction.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” I said, leading Poe over to another paddock to do the same.
My intuition told me I knew exactly what that was, though, because a thought was running through my head that I hoped was wrong, but somehow knew deep down was true.
The thing about Granger was that he struggled to keep his mouth shut even at the best of times.
Secrets weren’t much of secrets with that man.
So maybe it hadn’t been the smartest idea to tell him about Jackson and I before I was ready for the rest of the farm to know my business.
But I’d been hoping that his own recollection of how much I’d suffered—still suffered—with the loss of Raleigh, would help him realize the pressure it would put on us if he didn’t keep it under wraps.
My mind was a mess, and I didn’t hear Jackson making his way over into the paddock until he was right next to me. I turned to ask what he was doing, but he snaked a hand around my neck and pulled me into a quick but hard kiss.
“What was that for?” I asked around an amused huff when he pulled back.
“You were thinking too loud. I could hear you all the way over there.” Jackson winked before making his way back over to Sky.
I bit back my smile, shaking my head as I continued to get Poe untacked and then brushed down.
The kiss did what it was supposed to though, and as we got the horses taken care of, I listened to Jackson chatter away about wanting to bring fishing poles the next time we went to the river.
By the time we got Poe and Sky situated back in their stalls with some fresh water and hay, I’d almost completely forgotten my worries and was discussing the logistics of getting Tallie to fry up any fish we might catch when my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Pulling it out, I glanced down at the text.
Marcy:
Just heard from Lane and Elliot. Happy for you.
“What the fuck?” I muttered aloud, and Jackson glanced over my shoulder to read the message.
“What does that mean?” he asked, keeping his head close to mine as we started making our way out of the barn.
“I think it means I need to have a chat with Granger,” I grumbled, pocketing my phone without responding to Marcy.
“Granger? But that text said Lane and Elliot.”
I was just about to tell him my suspicions when we exited from the barn to find Dudd leaned against his rusty old pickup.
He had an unlit cigarette propped between his lips, arms crossed over his chest as he stared us down with the deepest furrow between his brows.
Both Jackson and I came to a dead stop as he started making his way toward us.
When he was right on top of us, his eyes darted between both of our faces before he dropped a hand on our shoulders.
He fixed his hardened stare on me first.
“Ain’t what I expected of you,” he started, causing a sinking feeling in my gut. “But I’m real happy for ya. You deserve to be happy, Tuck.”
Dudd turned his attention to Jackson next. “He’s a real ass when he wants to be, but don’t give up on ’im too quickly.”
Jackson beamed, shaking his head. “Don’t plan to.”
Dudd gave a quick nod, glancing between us once more before getting himself settled back into his truck and driving off.
Jackson turned his head, his wide smile still in place and a twinkle in his eye. “I feel like I just got a parent’s blessing or something.”
I rubbed a hand over my mouth and jaw, a little bit of tension that had built from Dudd’s unusual appearance bleeding out of me with his blessing, as Jackson put it.
Even after my conversation with Granger this morning, there was still a lingering fear that my men would look at me differently or lose respect over me being with an employee—that because Jackson worked for me, it would change the dynamic I had with everyone else on the farm.
Whether Dudd had realized it or not, he’d just eased a small bit of that worry for me.
Pulling out my phone from my pocket, I hit the button to call my best friend.
“Tuck! Hey, man. Back from the river? Have a good time swimming around naked with your man?” Granger’s voice was light and airy with a slightly teasing lilt to it.
“Does the whole farm know?” I asked instead of answering him. Anxious energy had me rubbing along my beard once more. The scrape felt wrong, and I wished again that I could just cut it off, but the soft little hums Jackson made every time I kissed him made me think he liked it.
“Know what?”
“Don’t do that, Granger. I need to prepare myself for what I’m walking into.”
There was a short pause before Granger spoke again, his tone more serious than before. “The guys know. I felt like they had the right considering you were asking for coverage for both of you for the whole day.”
“Who else knows? Lane and Elliot told Marcy. Do my parents know?”
“No!” Granger jumped in quickly at that.
“Just the guys, and I made it real clear this wasn’t to get back to your folks.
That’s for you to tell them. But, Tuck, I gotta be real honest with you here.
None of them were all too shocked by the news.
You two have been dancing around each other since Jackson started, and the tension has been as thick as peanut butter.
I wouldn’t be surprised if your folks don’t already have some sort of idea. ”
I squatted down, dropping my head to run a hand over the back of my neck as I tried to process everything he was saying.
“Tuck?” Granger’s voice came through the line after a moment, none of his normally carefree attitude found in it.
“Yeah?”
“I’ll talk with Marcy. Make sure she doesn’t say something to your folks.”
“Thanks, man,” I grunted.
We gave some quick, perfunctory goodbyes before hanging up after that, and I let out a low sigh as I stared at the gravel under my boots. A gentle hand began to rub along my spine after a moment, and when I glanced over, I found Jackson squatting beside me, his brows furrowed together in concern.
“Your folks?” he asked, his eyes bouncing over my face.
“He didn’t tell them.”
The crease between his brows didn’t smooth out with that, instead, he continued to watch me before he asked, “Do you not want anyone to know about us?”
I shook my head, letting out a slow breath.
“It’s not that. Part of me is relieved I don’t have to do some formal announcement or sit everyone down one by one to tell them.
I just…” I swallowed roughly. “I didn’t want there to be any pressure on us.
If we don’t work, I didn’t want either of us feeling like we have to force it for whatever reason. ”
Even as I said the words, I knew what was coming out of my mouth wasn’t the whole truth.
I didn’t want Jackson feeling like he needed to stay with me just because he was the first person to make me feel something after Raleigh.
Sure, he kept telling me he was all in, but now that other people knew something was going on, would that be too much?
Would it make the potential consequences more real to him?
But Jackson just kept looking me over before he finally let out a huff through his nose, leaning forward and angling his head to press another kiss to my lips.
This one was slow, gentle, and full of so much reassurance it made my eyes sting.
When he pulled away, the hand on my back moved to cup at my jaw, his thumb caressing over my beard.
“Will the guys be good about this or do you think they’ll give us hell?”
I sucked in a short breath. “Granger might tease a little, but he won’t be a dick about it. Lane and Elliot are always idiots. Everyone else will be fine though. Are you worried about how they’ll treat you now?”
He shook his head. “I may be easygoing, but I’m not a pushover. If someone says something out of line, I’ll shut it down quick.”
I pressed my head against his hand, feeling more comfort by his continued affection than anything else.
“I don’t want you feeling like you need to rush things between us now that other people know, too.
This is still all at your pace, Tucker. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, you drive this boat, okay?
” he murmured low, and my heart swelled inside my chest for how well this man already seemed to know me.
I nodded, pushing back against the emotions rising high in my throat, but that seemed to be enough for Jackson because he just gave me a soft smile and began to sift his fingers through my beard absently. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. When did you decide on the beard?”
I scrunched my brows together in confusion.
“You were mostly clean-shaven in your wedding photo,” he clarified.
I grunted a little and shrugged one shoulder.
“Raleigh always told me I’d look good with a beard, but I didn’t want the upkeep since my facial hair grows so fast. After he passed, I couldn’t muster the energy to do much of anything, let alone shave, so it just kind of… happened. Then I kept it. For him.”
Jackson nodded slowly, still running his fingers through the coarse hairs with that gentle smile still on his lips.
“I thought you liked it?” I questioned, suddenly unsure.
He hummed his agreement. “I do, but I can’t deny I think you’d look sexy with a Robert Redford look.”
“Robert Redford? The actor?” I let out a huff of amusement. “Are we talking Jeremiah Johnson mountain man or Sundance Kid?”
Jackson let out a quick burst of laughter. “Sundance Kid. I love a good mustached man. I forgot he was Jeremiah Johnson.”
“I’m surprised you know who he is at all.”
“Old westerns were all that played on the TV when we got back from cattle drives growing up. It’s all the men wanted to watch. I’m partial to a lot of old movies now because of it.”
“My dad liked them, too. I remember sitting around watching quite a few of them with him.”
Jackson gave me a wide grin before standing back up with a grunt and offering me a hand. There was a steady thump against my ribcage as I took it, our fingers sliding together as I rose. Despite it all, his hand in mine felt right.
“Want to see if we can convince Tallie to feed us even though we missed dinner?” he asked, already starting toward my truck.
“If she doesn’t, I’ll cook for us. I’d already kind of planned on doing that since I knew we’d be out late,” I admitted sheepishly.
Jackson shot me a look, a teasing smirk taking over his normally soft smile. “Seducing me with food, Tucker? They do say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. You’re just not allowed near the bacon.”
I let out a soft chuckle as I settled into the driver's seat. “You just don’t know good bacon.”
On the drive back to the main house, Jackson started peppering me on my preference for Western actors, even the old black and white ones.
“Gary Cooper or Randolph Scott?”
“Oh, Randolph Scott,” I quipped. “Even if he wasn’t an amazing actor, I’d pick him solely for the representation. I was kind of obsessed with him and Cary Grant for a while.”
Jackson let out a burst of laughter that filled my chest to the brim. It was infectious, and I couldn’t help but join in. As we continued chatting on the drive over to the main house, it struck me how light I felt being around Jackson, and how I hadn’t laughed this much since before Raleigh passed.